'I don't think we know what happened. I am not certain myself. We all have a lot of questions. It's going to have to be on the positive side and not going into too much of the other part,' he explained.

'She is going home with me on Tuesday,' Jones - a former professor of animal science at the University of Georgia - added.

Jones added that Kelly's mother had passed away some years ago and that his daughter had always been fascinated with Ireland and that the family had traced a great-grandmother called Collins to County Antrim.

'The fact that she had red hair may have entered into her mind as having Irish descendancy. She was an avid reader of literature and poetry and she read stories about Ireland.'

Jones confirmed that his daughter doesn't remember anything since 8.30 PM on Friday week past and 7.30 PM last Tuesday evening when she woke up near to the old rectory in Glencolmcille and then broke into it for shelter. Jones was found inside the rectory at lunchtime on Wednesday by a search party.

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